Our M48 wind farm project

BEC’s first projects have been around solar PV panels, but we’re developing projects for other renewable technologies too, including wind turbines. It takes a long time to develop a wind project from scratch, so we looked to partner with others who were already working on this locally. In 2012 we contacted REG Windpower, who are proposing to build two wind turbines in the area between the M48 and M4 motorways, near Ingst in South Gloucestershire.

REG were immediately supportive of the idea of a significant community element to the wind farm. So, with support from Sustainable Thornbury, we worked together on a suitable arrangement, and in June 2013 we signed a legal agreement with REG that gives Bristol Energy Cooperative an exclusive option to buy the wind farm, should it be built.

In December 2014, over 2 years after the planning application was submitted, it was refused at committee. In June 2015 REG lodged an appeal, but sadly withdrew this, because they believed that even if they won the appeal, the government would just overturn the decision.

This project will therefore not be progressing. It's worth re-iterating that onshore wind is the most co-effective form of renewable energy in the UK, and the wind farm would have provided many benefits:

1. Financial benefit for the local community: With wind developments of this sort, commercial developers typically contribute to a local Community Fund for each year the wind farm generates electricity. The Fund is then used to provide grants to be distributed as the community decides. The amount given to the fund is based on the Community Benefits Protocol, under which wind developers in England commit to providing an amounty for each MW of installed capacity, for each year the installation is generating. In October 2013 the minimum amount was increased to £5,000 per MW.

2. Financial benefits for investors: There would have been an opportunity to invest in the project via a community share offer, similar to the way we run our solar PV share offers.

3. Local jobs: REG had pledged to use local firms where possible, to build the wind farm. This would have brought local jobs in areas such as construction, haulage, steel fabrication, electrics, fencing, security and accommodation.

4. Green energy for local homes: The proposed turbines are very efficient, and the wind farm would have generated enough electricity to power between 2,800 and 3,100 homes in an average year.

5. Caring for future generations: The UK has to meet legally-binding targets for renewable energy production, and each local area has to play its part in meeting these. Wind-generated power is a substantial contributor to South Gloucestershire’s target, but there are relatively few suitable sites for this in the county. This proposed site between two motorways would have been one of the less intrusive locations. Between 183,000 and 206,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide would have been saved over the 25-year life of the project.

6. Business rate payments: The project would have provided money to the local economy through paying business rates.